Difference between revisions of "Roberto Clemente" - New World Encyclopedia
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==Life and career== | ==Life and career== | ||
===Puerto Rico=== | ===Puerto Rico=== | ||
| − | Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, to Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker de Clemente in Carolina, which is slightly east of the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan. Roberto | + | Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, to Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker de Clemente in Carolina, which is slightly east of the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan. Roberto, the youngest of Luisa's seven children (three of whom were from a previous marriage), would contribute money to the family by loading shovels into his father's truck for construction-company deliveries. Melchor was also a foreman in charge of sugar-cane cutters. His mother, Luisa, was a laundress and had assorted jobs assisting workers at the sugar-cane plantation. |
| − | + | The young Clemente also earned money by doing odd jobs for neighbors, and used the earnings to buy a bike and to purchase rubber balls. He would squeeze the balls to strengthen his hands, so much so that many people would comment on the size of his hands. Even at an early age, it was clear that Clemente had athletic ability. | |
| − | + | At 14, Clemente joined a softball team organized by Roberto Marín (an influential figure in his life), who noticed the boy's strong throwing arm and began using him at shortstop, eventually moving him to the outfield. Whatever position he played, Roberto was exceptional. "His name became known for his long hits to right field, and for his sensational catches," said Marín. "Everyone had their eyes on him." | |
| + | |||
| + | At Vizcarrondo High School in Carolina, Clemente participated in the javelin throw, with such ability that it was thought he might be qualified to represent Puerto Rico in the Olympics. According to one of his biographers, Bruce Markusen, the javelin did more than strengthen Clemente's arm: "The footwork, release, and general dynamics employed in throwing the javelin coincided with the skills needed to throw a baseball properly. The more that Clemente threw the javelin, the better and stronger his throwing from the outfield became." | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
===Focus on baseball=== | ===Focus on baseball=== | ||
Although he had great all-around athletic ability, Roberto decided to focus on baseball, even though it meant forgoing any dreams of participating in the Olympics. He began playing for a strong amateur team, the Juncos Mules. In 1952, Clemente took part in a tryout camp in Puerto Rico that was attended by scout Al Campanis of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Clemente impressed Campanis with his different skills, including his speed. The Dodgers did not sign Clemente then, but Campanis kept him in mind. | Although he had great all-around athletic ability, Roberto decided to focus on baseball, even though it meant forgoing any dreams of participating in the Olympics. He began playing for a strong amateur team, the Juncos Mules. In 1952, Clemente took part in a tryout camp in Puerto Rico that was attended by scout Al Campanis of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Clemente impressed Campanis with his different skills, including his speed. The Dodgers did not sign Clemente then, but Campanis kept him in mind. | ||
Revision as of 00:35, 16 June 2007
| Roberto Clemente
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| |
| Personal Info | |
|---|---|
| Birth | August 18, 1934, Carolina, Puerto Rico |
| Death: | December 31, 1972 (age 38), Off the coast of Carolina, Puerto Rico |
| Professional Career | |
| Debut | April 17, 1955, Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Team(s) | As Player Pittsburgh Pirates (1955 – 1972) |
| HOF induction: | August 6, 1973 |
| Career Highlights | |
| |
Roberto Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Major League Baseball right fielder and right-handed batter. He was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1973 as the first Hispanic American to be selected, and the only exception to the mandatory five-year, post-retirement waiting period since it was instituted in 1954. He is well-known for being the only player to have ever scored a walk-off inside-the-park grand slam.
Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of four children. He played 18 seasons in the majors from 1955 to 1972, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning the National League MLB Most Valuable Player Award in 1966. He was very helpful in his native land and in other Latin American countries, often bringing baseball supplies and food to them. He died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972 while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. His body was never recovered.
Baseball accomplishments
Clemente also had one of the most powerful throwing arms in baseball history. Broadcaster Vin Scully colorfully claimed, "Clemente could field the ball in New York and throw out a guy in Pennsylvania."[1] Clemente won 12 Gold Glove Awards for his outstanding defense (a record among outfielders, which he shares with fellow legend Willie Mays); he was reported to be able to throw out a runner from his knees. He recorded 266 outfield assists during his career.
Perhaps Clemente's greatest feat was leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a seven-game World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles in 1971. He played in two World Series (1960 and 1971) and got a hit in all 14 games.
He is one of only four players (as of the end of the 2006 season) to have 10 or more Gold Gloves and a .300+ lifetime batting average.
Long time broadcaster Tim McCarver calls Roberto Clemente "the greatest right fielder of all time".
Life and career
Puerto Rico
Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, to Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker de Clemente in Carolina, which is slightly east of the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan. Roberto, the youngest of Luisa's seven children (three of whom were from a previous marriage), would contribute money to the family by loading shovels into his father's truck for construction-company deliveries. Melchor was also a foreman in charge of sugar-cane cutters. His mother, Luisa, was a laundress and had assorted jobs assisting workers at the sugar-cane plantation.
The young Clemente also earned money by doing odd jobs for neighbors, and used the earnings to buy a bike and to purchase rubber balls. He would squeeze the balls to strengthen his hands, so much so that many people would comment on the size of his hands. Even at an early age, it was clear that Clemente had athletic ability.
At 14, Clemente joined a softball team organized by Roberto Marín (an influential figure in his life), who noticed the boy's strong throwing arm and began using him at shortstop, eventually moving him to the outfield. Whatever position he played, Roberto was exceptional. "His name became known for his long hits to right field, and for his sensational catches," said Marín. "Everyone had their eyes on him."
At Vizcarrondo High School in Carolina, Clemente participated in the javelin throw, with such ability that it was thought he might be qualified to represent Puerto Rico in the Olympics. According to one of his biographers, Bruce Markusen, the javelin did more than strengthen Clemente's arm: "The footwork, release, and general dynamics employed in throwing the javelin coincided with the skills needed to throw a baseball properly. The more that Clemente threw the javelin, the better and stronger his throwing from the outfield became."
Focus on baseball
Although he had great all-around athletic ability, Roberto decided to focus on baseball, even though it meant forgoing any dreams of participating in the Olympics. He began playing for a strong amateur team, the Juncos Mules. In 1952, Clemente took part in a tryout camp in Puerto Rico that was attended by scout Al Campanis of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Clemente impressed Campanis with his different skills, including his speed. The Dodgers did not sign Clemente then, but Campanis kept him in mind.
With his natural talent he had an amazing ability to make contact at the plate coupled with a tremendous arm in the field, Clemente first caught the eye of major league scouts while playing with the Santurce Crabbers (alongside Willie Mays) in the Puerto Rican Winter League. At the age of 18, he hit .356 for Santurce in the winter of 1952–1953.
1954 in Montreal
Scout Al Campanis signed Clemente for the Brooklyn Dodgers with a $10,000 bonus later in 1953. His new team, however, was unable to fit him into a star-studded outfield featuring 1953 National League All-Stars Carl Furillo, Duke Snider, and Jackie Robinson. Rules of the time required a team signing a player for a bonus, including salary, of more than $4,000 to keep him on the major league roster for two years or risk losing him in an off-season draft (the predecessor of today's Rule 5 Draft). Nevertheless, the Dodgers chose to have Clemente spend the 1954 season in the minors, with the Montreal Royals, even though it meant they could lose him at the end of the year.
What has been written about Clemente in Montreal contains an assertion that the Dodgers and Royals tried to hide him—that is, play him very little so that other teams wouldn't notice him. Biographers and others who maintain that Clemente was hidden—and beyond that, that the organization may have tried to frustrate Clemente to the point that he would jump the team, making him ineligible to be drafted by another team—offer numerous supporting examples. The examples, with few exceptions, turn out to be false.
For example, it has been stated that Clemente once had three triples in a game and was benched the next game. A check of Montreal Royals box scores in 1954 reveals that Clemente never had a game with three triples in it. Clemente himself maintained that the Royals' strategy was to make him look bad, benching him if he did well, and keeping him in the lineup if he was doing poorly. In reality, Clemente was in the starting lineup five games in a row early in the season (a strange strategy if the team really was trying to hide him). Clemente had one hit in the first of those games, started again, had three hits, and started the next three games, coming out of the starting lineup only after going hitless in those final three games. This would seem to belie the claims that the organization was trying to make him look bad by rewarding a good performance with a benching and vice versa.
After those five starts, he played sparingly over the next few months, but he did begin playing on a semi-regular basis on July 25. Over the final seven weeks of the season, Clemente (a right-handed batter) was in the starting lineup every time the opposing starting pitcher was lefthanded. And he started no games over that period in which the opposing starter was righthanded. (This is called platooning, and was a common practice of Montreal manager Max Macon.) However, two biographers—Kal Wagenheim and Bruce Markusen—make the outrageous and totally incorrect claim that Clemente did not play in any of the Royals’ final 25 games.
Roberto finished Montreal with a .257 batting average and 2 home runs in 148 at-bats.
1955–1959
Regardless of the intentions of the Royals/Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates president Branch Rickey (the same person who, as Dodgers president, signed Jackie Robinson) drafted Clemente with the first selection in the post-season draft. Pittsburgh at the time was a fixture at the bottom of the National League and had lost 100 games in each of the three previous seasons. With little to lose, the Pirates installed Clemente in place of incumbent right fielder Sid Gordon early in the 1955 season.
Although Clemente's skill with the glove was immediately apparent, he was less impressive at the plate; he batted .255 with five home runs and 47 RBI in his first full season in 1955. In 1956, though, he hit his stride, producing a .311 batting average (third in the league) at the age of 21. It was the first of thirteen seasons in which Clemente would hit above .300.
The 1960s
While Clemente had begun to fulfill his potential, the Pirates continued to struggle through the 1950s, although they did manage their first winning season since 1948 in 1959. In 1960, however, the team broke through to a 95-59 record, a National League pennant, and a thrilling seven-game World Series victory over the Mantle-Maris New York Yankees. Clemente batted .310 in the series, hitting safely at least once in every game. His .314 batting average, 16 home runs, and stellar defense earned him his first trip to the All-Star game.
Through the rest of the decade, Clemente firmly established himself as one of the premier players in baseball. For the rest of his career, he batted over .300 in every year save 1968, when he hit .291; he was selected to every All-Star game; and he was given a Gold Glove after every season from 1961 onwards. He led the National League in batting average four times (1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967), led the NL in hits twice (1964 and 1967), and won the MVP award for his 1966 season, when he hit .317 while setting career highs in home runs (29) and RBI (119).
Regardless of his unquestionable success, some (including, supposedly, Clemente himself) felt that the media did not give him the recognition he deserved. Despite being the offensive and defensive leader of the strong 1960 Pirates club, he finished only eighth in voting for the MVP that season; teammate Dick Groat received the award. In protest Clemente reportedly never wore his 1960 World Series ring. He was also labeled a hypochondriac due to nagging injuries early in his career, although he played in 144 or more games in each season from 1960 to 1967. The 1966 MVP award was, in the eyes of many Pittsburgh fans, a long overdue acknowledgment of his greatness.
In 1969, Pirates owner John Galbreath named one of his Thoroughbred horses Roberto. The colt raced in Ireland and England where he earned 1971 and 1972 champion honors and won the famed Epsom Derby.
The 1970s
In 1971, the Pirates again won the National League pennant behind Willie Stargell's 48 home runs and Clemente's .341 batting average and faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Baltimore had won 100 games and swept the American League Championship Series, both for the third consecutive year, and were the defending World Series champions. Undaunted, Pittsburgh came back from down two games to none in the series to win it in seven for the second time in Clemente's career. He was the clear star of the series, with an incredible .414 batting average (12 hits in 29 at-bats), typically spectacular defense, and a crucial solo home run in the deciding 2-1 Game Seven victory. His efforts earned him the World Series MVP award.
Chuck Thompson (working for NBC Sports along with Curt Gowdy) describing the Game 7 home run in the fourth inning off of the Orioles' Mike Cuellar: That ball is hit well...a Clemente home run and the Pirates lead 1-0!
Struggling with injuries, Clemente managed to appear in only 102 games in 1972, but still hit .312 for his final .300 season. On September 30 in a game at Three Rivers Stadium, he hit a double off Jon Matlack of the New York Mets for his 3,000th hit. It was the last at-bat of his career during a regular season, though he did play in the 1972 NLCS playoffs against the Cincinnati Reds. In the playoffs, he batted .235 as he went 4 for 17. His last game ever was at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium in the fifth game of the playoff series.
Death and posthumous honors
|
| Roberto Clemente is a member of Baseball Hall of Fame |
A hero in his native Puerto Rico, Clemente spent much of his time during the off-season involved in charity work. He died in a plane crash off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico on December 31, 1972 while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. His body was never recovered.
Puerto Rico has honored Roberto Clemente's memory by naming the coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico Coliseo Roberto Clemente and a baseball stadium in Carolina, Puerto Rico Estadio Roberto Clemente . His native city, Carolina, named an avenue after him and realized his dream of establishing a sports complex where the youth could learn and practice sports in a healthy environment. Today this sports complex is called "Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente" (Roberto Clemente Sports City). There is also a monument in his likeness created by Puerto Rican sculptor Jose Buscaglia Guillermety situated in Carolina. The state of New York named a state park after him almost immediately after his death; he now has several schools and parks named after him. [1] The city of Miami, Florida named Roberto Clemente Park in the Hispanic neighborhood of Wynwood after him. Also, the Wynwood and the Beaches ASPIRA chapter named the Roberto Clemente Youth Club (RCYC) after him. This club is aimed at helping at-risk hispanic youth by instilling confidence and teaching them how to become successful while avoiding drugs and crime.
In Pittsburgh, the 6th Street Bridge was renamed in his memory, and the Pirates retired his number 21 at the start of the 1973 season. The right field wall at the Pirates' PNC Park is 21 feet high in honor of Clemente. A statue of the outfielder stands outside the park; Clemente was the second Pirate so honored (Honus Wagner was the first). The City of Pittsburgh maintains Roberto Clemente Memorial Park along North Shore Drive in the city's North Side. On the other side of the state, in eastern Pennsylvania, the Roberto Clemente Charter School, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is named in Clemente's honor.
Two Connecticut cities honor Roberto Clemente with memorials: Hartford's Colt Park ball field and Bridgeport's Seaside Park. On January 1st of each year, Clemente fans gather at the Bridgeport memorial to honor his life and achievements.
MLB presents the Roberto Clemente Award every year to the player who best follows Clemente's example with humanitarian work. In 1973, Clemente was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. In 2002, Clemente was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2003, he was inducted into the U.S. Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame. There is also currently a campaign underway to have all major league teams retire Clemente's number. Supporters cite an influence on baseball at least as strong as that of Jackie Robinson, whose number is also retired throughout MLB.
In 1999, he ranked Number 20 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking Latino player. Later that year, Clemente was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Several Latino fans wrote letters saying that, as the greatest of all Latino players, he should have been awarded a spot on the team. In 2003, Clemente was inducted into the National Museum of the United States Marine Corps Hall of Fame. On October 26, 2005, Clemente was named a member of Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team. As mentioned above, the five-year waiting period for the baseball Hall of Fame was waived to allow him to be elected there immediately.
On August 17, 1984, the day before what would have been his 50th birthday, the United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp honoring Clemente. Designed by Juan Lopez-Bonilla, the spare, clean design shows Clemente wearing his Pirates cap, with the Puerto Rican flag in the background.
At the Major League Baseball All-Star game in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 11, 2006 many of the players on both teams wore yellow wristbands with the initials "RCW" in honor of Clemente. At the end of the 4th inning, Clemente was awarded the Commissioner's Historical Achievement Award by the Commissioner of Baseball, given to his widow. "Roberto was a hero in every sense of the word", Selig said.
Notes
- ↑ Peter Leo. "He just can't kick the baseball habit", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 11, 2006.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Maraniss, David. Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero, Simon & Schuster, 2007. ISBN 978-0743299992
- Markusen, Bruce. The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittburgh Pirates, Westholme Publishing, 2006. ISBN 978-1594160301
- United Press International; Miller, Ira; & Torres, Jose. Roberto Clemente, Penguin Putnam, 1973. ISBN 978-0448055817
- Walker, Paul Robert. Pride of Puerto Rico: The Life of Roberto Clemente, Odyssey Classics, 1991. ISBN 978-0152634209
External links/sources
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Baseball Reference
- Latino Sports Legends
- Society of American Baseball Research BioProject biography of Clemente
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